Flight training school cleared for takeoff

THE EAGLE HAS LANDED: Eagle Flight Training is up and running in Gisborne. It will initially be focusing on training international students, with some training opportunities for local students. Regional director Brian Johns (front) is pictured with senior instructor David Watson and Vietnam airline pilot cadets Dat Phan and Khoa Nguyen. Picture by Liam Clayton

GISBORNE is an ideal location for an aviation school training base, which has opened for business here.

Eagle Flight Training Ltd, a flight training provider based at Ardmore Airport in Auckland, is operating the training facility in Gisborne, with Brian Johns its regional director.

Chief executive Alexander Zapisetskiy said Gisborne mayor Meng Foon visited the school late 2015 and invited them to look at the opportunity to operate in Gisborne.

“The consideration took 12 months and now we find ourselves as a local operator in Gisborne,” he said.

For the first three to six months Gisborne will be a satellite base. The focus will be on training international students although it will provide limited training for local students.

As it develops, Eagle Flight Training will offer a range of pilot training from a Private Pilot Licence to a New Zealand Diploma in Aviation.

“We believe that the local community will appreciate the fact professional pilot training will be available at a short arm’s distance for them and we are expecting strong support.”

Mr Johns has been working in the Gisborne region since 2000 and has experience in project management and development. His portfolio includes real estate, education and motor vehicle dealership management.

“Over the last 17 years Brian has been enthusiastically promoting the opportunities and lifestyle Gisborne provides, and has been resident in Gisborne since July project-managing the refurbishment of Albert Lodge,” said Mr Zapisetskiy.

Company office in HanoiEagle Flight Training has been operating from Ardmore Airport since 2004 and also has a representative office in Hanoi, Vietnam.

It specialises in training domestic and international students to an advanced level as a pre-cursor to entry into the aviation industry.

It covers all aspects of pilot training, from PPL to jet aircraft-type ratings.

An international flight school with the capacity to train and accommodate up to 300 pilots was mooted for several years by property developer David Meban, who is now partly in receivership.

In 2011, Mr Meban said Gisborne was a good airport for a flight school because it did not have much congestion.

“It’s got good facilities and it is under-utilised. At other airports, pilots can be waiting 10 or 15 minutes and time is money,” he said then.

Gisborne Airport has around 22,000 aircraft movements — a landing or a take-off — a year, which is well below an airport like Hamilton, which has 100,000 movements a year.

The city came up trumps in other areas such as topography, sunshine hours, proximity to the sea and having a 24-hour airport.